Evolution: A Warlock’s Rise To Power

"Okay, I guess it is time to hold up my end of the deal."  Raze said.  "Take off your shirt and chest armor."

Lucan did as he was told, exposing his body that was covered in ethereal tribal symbols.

"Fascinating."  Penumbra murmured while looking them over.

"You can stop by my workshop.  I have his arm their and am in the process of studying the symbols."

"I would like that, thank you."  Pen said.

Lucan ignored the two and took out the demon's arm and handed it to Raze.  "Do you think their will be any side effects?  Like will the demon emperor's conscious invade my mind and try and take over my body?"

Raze shook his head.  "You have read to many stories.  Something weird may happen if you swap your brain with his but this is just an arm.  Flesh and bone.  Once attached it will be fully yours. Now onto the important bit, I can't attach this at your elbow since you have completely severed your own.  I need to cut your arm further up and then replace it, but since you have the demon's full arm, I suggest that I remove what remains of your left arm and incorporate the whole thing."

Lucan nodded.  "That is fine with me."

"Good."

Raze passed the demon's arm to Pen to hold and then placed a hand on Lucan's chest while the others began to feel around his shoulder.

"Bear with it."  Raze said before his fingers sunk into Lucan's flesh.

Lucan struggled not to let out a yelp as his patron's fingers split his flesh until he grabbed onto bone.  With a tank and a 'pop', Lucan's left stump was cast aside.

Raze took the demon's arm from pen and forced the rounded end of the exposed bone into the socket in Lucan's shoulder.  Tiny shadow like threads began to pull the nerves from the two together before attaching the blood vessels and then the muscle fibers.  Lastly, Lucan's skin began to stretch across the wound until it met the demon's flesh and began to fuse with it.

In less than a minute, the whole process was complete.

Raze then summoned a shadow that formed a mirror, allowing Lucan to take a look.  Then something happened that surprised all three.  The faint green tribal symbols began to grow from Lucan's chest and creep down his new arm.

Both Raze and Penumbra bent forward to watch closely.

"Intriguing."

"Fascinating."

They mumbled.  The tribal symbols were absorbing his ethereal mana while they were being created, so Lucan converted pure mana into ethereal mana so their growth wouldn't stop.  A few minutes and a few mana potions later, the symbols covered his entire arm and stopped draining his mana.

Lucan's entire left arm was pitch black with faint green tribal symbols covering it.  The warlock tried moving his finger and wrist.  Everything responded exactly like it was supposed to.  He rolled his shoulder and bent his elbow a few times.  There wasn't even any pain at the section where the arm had been attached.

Lucan couldn't help but remember that Silent told him changing his eye would have probably been a lot less painful and easy if he hadn't kicked up a fuss with Raze right before.  Now he was thinking that she was correct.

Sure and eye is more sensitive than and arm, but this was really easy compared to when he had integrated Menta's eye.

Lucan took one of the throwing knives from the pouch on his hip and tried to stab his new arm.  Just like when the demon used it, a scratch couldn't even be seen.  But when he changed to Night's Whisper the blade didn't have any trouble cutting him.

The arm could ignore a good amount of physical damage, but magic and magic weapons were a different story.

It felt good to have his left arm restored, but there was a strange feeling in his hand.  Something was off.  He wasn't sure if it was because he wasn't used to having a hand.  But it definitely felt different than his right hand.

As he moved his fingers around, the strange feeling became more prominent.  Suddenly, he pulled back his fingers and thumb and a transformation occurred.  The nails on the end of his digits became two inch long claws.  He pricked them into his right arm and had no issue drawing blood.  Relaxing his fingers, the claws transformed back into nails.

"He, he.  Nice."  Lucan muttered to himself.

Both Raze and Penumbra didn't seem too impressed, but it was likely that both the old timers had seen a lot in their time.

"If you are done playing, let's leave your prison."  Raze said.  "I can't summon your guards inside this place."

Lucan, Silent, Raze, and Penumbra made their way to the exit and left the prison.  In the tunnel, Raze summoned the fifty two shadow elves and instructed them to follow Lucan's commands.

Raze and Pen left while Lucan, Silent and the shadow elves reentered the prison.  The Warden was waiting on the other side of the door for his new subordinates.  Lucan instructed them to follow the warden's commands and informed them that he would work on building a large guards quarters in the future.

While the new guards weren't technically part of the dungeon, he would be able to convert them for a cost.  It was just that he couldn't afford it right now.  It was important to convert them so that if they died, they would be revived when the dungeon refreshed.

With the addition of the prison, he now needed dungeon points more than ever, there was a lot he wanted to do with the place, but he simply couldn't afford it.

After returning to the fortress, Lucan contacted Super and told him to bring Tracker92 while Silent contacted DivineDiva.

"Divine is still being treated for her disease so she can't come, but she also doesn't want the shadow seed.  Even though she is one of my acolytes, she only buys mental abilities.  She doesn't want to taint her holy power with shadows."

Lucan was happy to keep the extra shadow seed, but he didn't want to be in anyone's debt. "Alright, pay her off or let her take something from the vaults next time you see her."

Silent nodded happily.  Super and Tracker should up a few minutes later.

"What's up?"  Super asked, wandering why Lucan had called him back.

"I have a gift for the both of you from a prisoner I freed.  They are shadow seeds from a shadow spirit.  They will strength shadow magic, but their exact effects are different from person to person."  He said while passing a shadow seed to each of them.

"Wow, thanks."  Tracker92 said while taking his.

Super also nodded his thanks while taking the seed and storing it.

"If you ever need any help again just let me know."  Tracker said before him and Super went back to whatever it is they do.

Lucan didn't forget to pass a seed to Silent, which left him with two.

He contemplated what to do with them.  After a minute he knew how to use one.  Little Brown had been feeling weak and helpless for a while now.  Adrestia had so much potential and drew strength from many different sources that it made the small spirit feel inferior.  Even the newest pet Creepy had his own abilities and uses, even though its level was low and the abomination was still trying to catch up to Lucan and Adrestia.

Lucan didn't think Little Brown was worthless at all.  He was a familiar that he could cast, speak, see, and hear through but since he had an extra seed, he would give it to his original familiar.

After summoning the little brown mouse, he crouched down and held out his palm with the small shadow seed in the center of his hand.  Little Brown came up to his hand and sniffed the seed before looking at Lucan while tilting his head.

"Ingest it, it will make you stronger."  Lucan said.

"Squeak! Squeak!"  Little Brown didn't hold back and swallowed the seed whole.

Through Menta's eye, Lucan could see the shadow mana begin to converge on his familiar.  It poured into Little Brown as if the mouse was a bottomless pit.  After several minutes, the mana began to slow before eventually stopping.

"How do you feel?"  Lucan asked.

"Squeak! Squeak!"  Little Brown was shouted and dancing around excitedly while Lucan waited to see what had changed.

Noticing that Lucan was waiting, Little Brown stopped dancing and scurried towards a corner of the room where the shadows were particularly dense.  After entering the shadows, the mouse basically became invisible.

Lucan went closer to see if he could find the mouse, but even after entering the corner he couldn't find Little Brown, even with Menta's eye.

"That is some impressive invisibility."  Lucan mumbled to himself.

"Squeak! Squeak!"

What surprised Lucan was that Little Brown's call hadn't come from the corner.  He turned to see the mouse scurry out of the shadow of a table ten meters away.

"Ha, ha, no way.  Shadow teleportation?  That is awesome."

Little Brown rushed towards Lucan and began his dance again.

Once Little Brown finished his dance, Lucan noticed the shadow mana surge again.  He turned to see that Silent had the same idea as him.  She had given her shadow seed to the queen of her swarm.  Queeny was enveloped in a cocoon of shadow mana and undergoing a transformation. Lucan went and stood beside his wife as she eagerly waited to see what would become of her pet.